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Parent as an ADHD Advocate

Free ADHD TeleSeminar

Date: Wednesday May 21st, 2008

Time: 8:30 pm Eastern

Who: Dr. Rory Stern Interviews Evelyn Polk-Green

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Help Parents of Students with ADHD Recover Expert Witness Fees!

PLEASE CALL YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES ON Tuesday, MAY 6, AND ASK THEM TO CO-SPONSOR THE IDEA FAIRNESS RESTORATION ACT, H.R. 4188. 

Find your Representative's Phone Number HERE.

The CHADD Public Policy Team alerted you in February about H.R. 4188, a forthcoming bill that would reimburse expert witness legal fees to parents of children with AD/HD who prevail in a hearing under IDEA.

If there is a dispute between the family and the school system which results in a hearing, the family may want to bring in an expert witness.

Few parents can afford the thousands of dollars needed to pay for expert testimony.  H.R. 4188, introduced by Congressman Chris Van Hollen (Maryland) and Pete Sessions (Texas), will restore Congress' original intent, and enable parents to recover these fees. 

Congress intended for parents to recover their expert witness fees in the Handicapped Children's Protection Act of 1986.  But the Supreme Court in Arlington Central School District v. Murphy (2006) held that the law was not explicit enough and parents could not recover their expert fees.  The IDEA Fairness Restoration Act is necessary to restore Congress' original intent and allow parents to recover fees.   

Congress needs to hear from as many parents and child advocates as possible.
If you cannot call on May 6, it is fine to call afterwards. 

H.R. 4188 is sponsored by 20 representatives, but more cosponsors are needed to help build support for the bill.  The following are already sponsors: Neil Abercrombie (HI), Richard Baker (LA), Earl Blumenauer (OR), Ginny Brown-Waite (FL), Dan Burton (IN), Steve Cohen (TN), Danny Davis (IL), Peter DeFazio (OR), Charles Gonzalez (TX), Michael Honda (CA), Ray LaHood (IL), Zoe Lofgren (CA), James Moran (VA), Grace Napolitano (CA), Donald Payne (NJ), Janice Schakowsky (IL), Pete Sessions (TX), Pete Stark (CA), Chris Van Hollen (MD), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL).  We thank them for their support!  Let's add more!

Want more information?

Click here for Reimbursement for Expert Legal Fees Web Posting

Restore Employment and Education Rights for Adults and Children with ADHD

Are you a working adult who has ADHD? Are you a student concerned about receiving appropriate accommodations at your college or university? Does your child attend a private school that does not receive federal financial assistance? 

If the answer is yes, then the Americans with Disabilities Restoration Act is crucial legislation for you to know about. The original Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990 and is the major civil rights law for people with disabilities. Since then the courts have significantly narrowed the reach of the law and made it very difficult for a person with any cognitive or mental disability to be protected. 

The ADA Restoration Act, now before Congress, will restore the original intent of the law and protect all people with disabilities. This is particularly important in protecting the rights of persons with disabilities in employment and students in private schools, colleges and universities.

Learn more and find out how you can make a difference>>>

ADD Forums 2.0

In December ADD Forums made the long awaited upgrade to the latest incarnation of its forum software. This new generation of software offers expanded functionality and features such as expanded profiles with "friend’s lists", personal photo galleries, etc.

Today ADD Forums added a new Blogging system where each ADD Forums member can have his or her own blog, respond to other member’s blogs and more.

In the coming weeks ADD Forums will be adding a completely new chat system and many other new features that have been requested and are becoming available.

Video Games Used to Treat ADHD

Would you believe that video games can help patients suffering from Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?

ABC-12 (Flint, Michigan) reports that an alternative to drugs like Ritalin can be found in certain types of games.

Dr. Margaret MacDonald uses Smart BrainGames, a feedback system which monitors brainwaves through a hat full of sensors. The system then adjusts video game performance in order to “train” the player into emitting certain brain patterns. Dr. MacDonald explains how the feedback works:

Read More>>>

Attention Deficit Disorder is not a made-up condition

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) is not a disease. What germ causes it? None. It's a recent discovery. Why? It's a totally subjective diagnosis. It is nearly always diagnosed in boys. Perhaps this is nothing more than an attack on males by women-libbers. Boys are not supposed to be good little girls. They need to get out and play hard. We should not dope them with hazardous chemicals, or we are part of the problem.

— R.S.

What germ causes high blood pressure, heart attacks, most cancers and an array of numerous other illnesses? Germs are not the sole cause of illness. Many conditions are recent discoveries. Lyme disease, the metabolic syndrome and asbestosis are but a few of them. So what? Medicine constantly makes new discoveries and describes new illnesses.

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Fidget to Focus Teleclass

On Tuesday November 27, 2007 at 9:00 pm EST ADHD Coach Sarah Wright along with Roland Rotz will be leading the free teleclass Fidget to Focus through ADDClasses.com. Sarah Wright and Roland Rotz are co-authors of the book Fidget to Focus. This teleclass is free and registered participants can either call in using a telephone or listen live over the Internet. Sign up now at www.addclasses.com

Brain maturity lag linked to ADHD

Crucial parts of brains of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder develop more slowly than other youngsters' brains, a phenomenon that earlier brain-imaging research missed, a new study says.

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ADHD: It Can Run in the Family

Rick Webster’s son, Richy, stood out at school -- but not necessarily in a good way. He wasn’t doing his homework, he was having combative interactions with teachers, and his grades were suffering as a result. While his classmates had trouble once in a while, Richy’s difficulties were constant. Rick and his wife tried to get their 14-year-old son to focus on his studies, but the more they pushed, the more his behavior spiraled out of control. The yelling, a steady stream of calls from the school, and Richy’s failing grades fueled the ever-present sense of strain in their home.

After months of struggling, Richy’s parents and teachers met to discuss the situation. As they talked through his issues, each describing how the boy’s behavior was having a negative impact on his academic and family life, it became more obvious than ever that Richy needed some help.

“We started with a pediatrician, but ended up at a psychiatric center,” says Rick. “After several sessions and endless questions about Richy’s behavior, we learned that his actions were symptomatic of ADHD.”

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Involving Fathers In Children's ADHD Treatment Programs

While working with parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) at the University at Buffalo, Gregory A. Fabiano noticed something was missing: the fathers. Fabiano, an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Education, made the discovery while still a graduate assistant at the UB Center for Children and Families, which runs a summer treatment program that has helped more than 2,500 children with behavioral, emotional and learning problems. The program uses sports as a way to teach children peer-relationship skills, Fabiano said.

"I knew a lot of the dads in that program, because they would show up early to watch their kids on the soccer fields or the softball fields and we'd chat it up when we were out there," recalled Fabiano, who teaches in the counseling, school and educational psychology department.

"But then they would take their child and go home in the one car, and then the mom would drive up in another car and go to the parenting group," he added. "I thought 'There is something wrong with this picture.'"

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